Don't Lecture Me: Rethinking the Way College Students Learn

Don't Lecture Me: Rethinking the Way College Students Learn

College students spend a lot of time listening to lectures. But research shows there are better ways to learn.

Don't Lecture Me: Rethinking the Way College Students Learn, airing Sunday, October 9 at 10 p.m. on AM 1370/FM-HD 91.5-2, explores how traditional approaches to teaching are failing to provide many college students with the knowledge they need.

In an increasingly competitive global economy the best jobs go to highly skilled workers who can think well and learn fast. Are today's college graduates up to the challenge? Many experts say no. College students spend a lot of time listening to lectures, but research shows there are better ways to learn. Before Gutenburg and the widespread accessibility of books, the lecture was the only valid approach to education. Experts say the lecture has outlived its usefulness as information has become more accessible thanks to modern technology. While some professors are abandoning the traditional lecture because research suggests its ineffectiveness, lecture classes are still common. In this program, American RadioWorks producer Emily Hanford brings listeners the unexpected story of how a group of physicists became concerned about what their students were learning, what they did about it, and how their work is influencing a new generation trying to reinvent college so that students really learn.